Tecan Group and Luminex have announced a collaboration on the development of an automated newborn screening solution to provide faster results for potential health concerns.
The companies will combine Luminex Xmap technology and the LX 200 instrument with Tecan's Freedom EVO liquid handling platform and Hydroflex washer.
The automated newborn screening solution will help laboratories enhance efficiency, save vital resources and analyse more samples quicker.
Luminex Xmap technology is said to enable large numbers of biological tests to be conducted simultaneously and then quickly analysed.
Once it receives regulatory clearance, Neoplex4 will be a fully automated, walk-away testing platform for multiplexed newborn screening.
These high-volume screening assays test newborn infants for several different biomarkers linked to critical diseases.
Each of these conditions can cause severe mental and physical disability if untreated.
If detected early, effective treatment can be initiated.
Multiplexing these tests together from one sample offers improvements in testing efficiency.
Luminex expects to launch the automated newborn screening solution in 2011.